Yard Sale

This coming Saturday, June 13th, our local LPA chapter is having their bi-annual yard sale.

It's going to be at 5114 South 2200 West in Taylorsville. 7:00 am to 2:00 pm. Please come by

and see us.

New blog

I've started a new blog, it's a cooking blog. The address is raylcookingadventures.blogspot.com. I have posted a link to the side. I love cooking so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites as well as new one's. Please feel free to let me know if you are interested in adding your favorites too.

May Birthdays

Mike's family (two brothers and a nephew) has several May birthdays and last night we had the opportunity to get together and celebrate. The family tradition is to go to Sizzler and have dinner. Why Sizzler? I'm not sure, but we have been going there for years.

I took a couple of pictures with my phone at the last minute so they aren't great. No surprise. I'm not the best photographer.

Quick work update. For the last three months I've been going through a big transition at work and I can honestly say I feel like I've been to hell and back, but I think the fog is beginning to lift and is going to get better. I have a great team and feel lucky to get to spend everyday with them.

My mom, husband and friends have been so great to listen to me cry and complain almost everyday for the last few months. Thank you.

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day!

Not much happening in our house today. Mike is at work until 9 tonight. I'm doing the basics - grocery shopping, laundry, housework and watching Gilmore Girls. The animals have spent the first half of the day asleep on the guest bed. They love it in there.

My friend Nicole is having her 25th birthday today. Happy Birthday Nicole!

15 years ago today...

Mike and I got married. It's amazing how fast times flies. We don't have a lot planned today, we both have the day off and are still sick so we are just going to do dinner and hang out at home. Here are two pictures of us. One from the day we got married and the other from this year. I don't have any wedding pictures in the computer so it's a picture of a picture from my mantle.

Sickness

Sickness has made its visit to our house and doesn't seem to want to leave. First, I got a sinus infection, those are so nasty and now Mike has bronchitis and I seem to be getting a cold. I'm really hoping we get better soon we have a busy March.

What we have on tap for the next couple of weeks:

• Our 15th wedding anniversary is on the 18th
• We are going to Idaho to see my parents for their birthdays (the big 70 for my dad)
• Mike's oldest brother Ken is turning 60 this month (I'm going to miss his party, see below)
• I'm headed to Atlanta with my boss for work

Lots going on. I'll post pictures later.

Cookie Salad

Today I made a yummy salad. It's called Cookie Salad, I got it off a friend's blog. It's really good.
Next time I make it I'm going to use more fruit and less cookie.

1 6 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
2 c. buttermilk
1 12 oz cool whip
1 8 oz can drained tidbit pineapple
1 pkg Fudge Striped Cookies, cut into bite-sized chunks (I didn't use the whole package)
2-5 bananas, sliced

Sprinkle dry pudding mix into milk. Fold in cool whip and fruit (gently). Add cookies before serving and sprinkle a few on top.

Valentine's Day

Mike and I had a fun Valentine's day yesterday. I had asked that Mike request that day off and he got it. It was fun to spend the whole day going places with him. We usually only have every other Sunday off together.

We started the day by going to the open house for the Draper Temple. As always it was beautiful. After the temple we went to Steve's house where they played Mariokart for awhile and then we, along with his mom and her friend, went to lunch at Spaghetti Mama's in Jordon Commons. After lunch we went to see the movie, Taken. Very good movie, lots of action and suspense. After the movie Mike took me home so he could do some shopping. We usually don't exchange gifts, but he decided to buy me a new mystery to read. It looks really good. He also got me a card and an artifical long stemmed rose, so the cat doesn't eat it. There's a story about that.

Later that night we watched House Bunny on pay per view. That movie to me and Mike was excruciatingly (not sure if that's correct) awful. I thought it would never end. It looked funny in the previews, but not in the actual movie. It was a very good Valentine's.

Random Pictures

Here are a couple random pictures from my Project 365.

How cute is he?!

I walked into the living room on Saturday and this is how I found the furry boys. Asleep on the couch, one on each end.

Nicole's Baby Shower

I'm not so good at updating this blog. I love having it and reading my friend's blog, but for some reason I just never take the time to update it. Not much is been happening around here. Just praying for spring to arrive.

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending my friend and co-worker's baby shower. It was a lot of fun. Good food, good conversation (or is it gossip?) and Nicole got some really cute stuff for her baby boy.

Here are a few pictures.

Project 365

I've started a new project this year. It's called Project 365 and I learned about it through my favorite scrapbooker, Becky Higgins. The goal of the project is to take a picture a day so at the end of the year (or 365 days) an overview of your life. These pictures can be of a person, place, thing or event. Throughout the year I will post some of my pictures.

January 1 - 4

January 1st. Our computer. Mike and I are constantly on our computer especially the Internet.

January 2nd. My desk at work. I spend all day at this desk so I figured it's important I document this. As you can see there is a Mtn. Dew can. Yes I'm back on it again.

January 3rd. I had taken a picture of my Christams decorations that were still up but it didn't turn out very well. I used my new camera phone and I didn't do a very good job with it.

January 4th. Sports is a Sunday tradition in our house. If Mike is home than you can be sure there is a sport show on.

Clarke Christmas Party Pictures

I found some pictures from the Christmas party. I'm not much of a photographer. I believe these were taken about three or four hours into the six hour party. By the time I took the photos Michael and Tyler had already left.

The pictures are of Ashley, Chad and the third is Ammon and Nicole and Angie and Derek.

December

My mother lovingly reminded me that it's been awhile since I've posted anything. She's right it has been a long time. December is always a busy and eventful month. This year was no exception. This will be a long post with few photos. I love to take pictures but most of the time I forget to.

December started with two Christmas parties. We had our annual LPA (Little People of America) party in Pleasant Grove. As always it was fun and festive. That same night I had my work party. I took Ashley as my date (Mike is a bit tired of going to our work party). We sat with Nicole, Angie, Chad and Michael from work. We had a blast, but the party was a bit long. Six hours to be exact. I won a $50 gift certificate to Walmart and won a peer nominated award, Most Supportive. That was neat, I was quite surprised. If you want to see pictures you can go to Nicole Tibolla's blog, its listed on the right, just scroll down and you will find it titled Clarke Party. Not a good picture of me, but oh well.

The next event in our December was my mother in laws birthday on the 20th. She turned 80 and looks fabulous. We had a nice family dinner at her house that night and then celebrated again a week later when Mike's sister was in town.

The night of my mother in laws birthday was not pleasant. As you all know we have had a lot of snow in December so that makes my driveway almost impossible to use. The afternoon of my mother in laws birthday I decided to brave the snow and do some Christmas shopping and then go to my mother in laws. As I was heading down the driveway my car slipped and hit the small retaining wall on the left side of my driveway. Gave me a flat tire. So my friend Steve came out to my house and put my spare tire on. Then he took me to my mother in laws. After dinner Mike took me home and I got the bright idea to try and pull my car up the driveway with the spare on. Not my brightest moment. Long story short I slid down the hill with my drive side door open and practically tore it off. Undriveable and the car has been in the shop for three weeks. I just got it back yesterday. Thank you to all my friends and husband who played taxi for me.

Next was Christmas. Mike's sister was in town for Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we had dinner at my mother in laws and played Phase 10. On Christmas day I talked with my mom for awhile after Mike and I opened presents then we went back to my mother in laws and had breakfast, watched tv, played Phase 10 and then had dinner. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. That night we had a big snow storm. I'll post pictures of my house and street once I download them.

New Years Eve. We had dinner at my mother in laws and then went and saw Valkerie. It was so good. I wasn't sure I was going to like a movie about assassination attempts on Hitler's life but it was really good. Then we played Phase 10 (can't you tell it's a family favorite) until 12:30 in the morning.

New Years Day was very quiet. Mike had to work and I stayd home and watched Gilmore Girls episodes all day.

So far 2009 has been a good year. I did smash my hand in a car door last weekend and it's still sore, but other than that it's been a good year.

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Belated Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Mike and I had a great one. We went to my parents house for a couple of days. We went down on Tuesday afternoon and spent that evening with my parents. On Wednesday Mike hung with my parents and I had a girls out afternoon with my friends Jillea (see previous post). That afternoon I made pie and we spent the rest of the day with my parents.

Thanksgiving day began early. Fred likes to get up super early when he's at my parents house. I try to go back to sleep but he wants in and out of the bedroom all morning long. He does not get up early at home. Mike was also an early bird on this trip. I just wanted to sleep in. I'm not a morning person or a late night person(I love sleep). That morning we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and then the dog show. I love seeing all the different breeds of dogs. There was a basset hound named Noodles. So cute. The only thing I contributed to the dinner beside pie was yams and apples. It's my mother in laws recipe and I love it. I had not made it before, but it turned out great. My aunt and uncle came to dinner and we had fun eating lots of food and chatting. After pie we left for home.

We had one incident this trip with Fred. Mike and the rest of the gang had gone outside to pack our car, I was in the bedroom making sure we had everything when I realized Fred was by himself in the kitchen. That is never a good thing. He has short legs but a long torso. So I walked into the kitchen and there he is with his paws on the counter grabbing turkey legs off the counter. I had quite the tug of war getting that leg out of his mouth, but I got 95% of it out of there. He did get a bite in there. Boy was I mad. Needless to say he was in trouble. He is such a brat when food is within his reach. He will get it and no means nothing to him.

Even with that incident we had a great time. Now it's time for Christmas decorating at home. Here are a couple of pictures. One is of Mike watching the dog show and the second is of my family. My parents are on the left and my aunt and uncle are on the right with Mike.

Twilight

Twilight the movie. What can I say? I loved it. I'm surprised I liked it. I went into the movie thinking that I would not like it. I rarely like a movie after having read the book. I was wrong. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving my friend Jillea and I went to lunch at Applebee's and then went to see Twilight. It was her second time seeing it and she loved it. She was such a good sport to see it a second time so I had someone to go with. Now I know why she was so willing to see it again. I want to see it again. I can't wait till the rest of the movies come out. I may have to read the books again. Here's a picture of Jillea and I at the restaurant.

Coldplay

Mike and I went to Coldplay last night at the Energy Solutions Center. It was a great concert. The concert opened with a band called Sleeper Car. They were very good. I'm not always a fan of opening bands, but this one was really good. Next up was a solo artist name Jon Hopkins. I have no idea what his music was, but I was bored after a few minutes of it.

It took awhile after the last singer before Coldplay came onstage, but it was worth the wait. They were fabulous. They sang all the best songs and the light show was a great addition to the singing. I would definitely like to see them again.

I have one complaint about the show and that was the noise level. I don't know if I'm getting old or if it's the ES center, but it was extremely loud. I couldn't even hear Mike who was sitting next to me. The concert was still worth the noise level.

UFC Fight Night

On Saturday night Mike and I attended fight night at Hooters with a couple of friends of ours and some of my co-workers. I was a little apprehensive about going to Hooters. I had not been there before and I think it's reputation was preceding itself. Not sure what I was expecting, but it was a fun place to go to watch the fight and eat a lot of buffalo wings.

The gang included myself, Mike, Steve, Ryan, Frank, Clint, Spencer, Jim and Tanner. I don't usually hang out with 7 guys and be the only girl, but it was lots of fun. I think it's cool that the guys from work invited me and my husband and friends to hang out with them.

The fight itself was good. I was rooting for Lesnar and he won by submission. He is a HUGE guy and beat the heck out Couture in round two. I'm just excited it went past one round. To me it's not much of a fight if it only lasts a couple of minutes. The prefights were all very short but fascinating. One guy looked like he was going to get his arm broken off.

Here are some pictures. The first picture is the whole gang, second picture is Steve(on the left) and Ryan (on the right). The third picture is Frank (on the left), Clint (in the middle) and Spencer on the right.

Quiz

I definitely love these quiz's. They are so fun and revealing.

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? No
2. Have you ever smoked? No
3. Do you own a gun? No, but it's tempting to have that type of protection in our home
4. What is your favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee shop? I don't have one. I've never been to Starbucks.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Every time. I'm such a wuss.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Love them!
7. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water or hot chocolate. I'm off the Mtn Dew.
9. Can you do push ups? Yes, not very well or very many.
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My diamond studs
11. Favorite hobby? reading, scrapbooking or cooking. Depends on the day
12. Do you have A.D.H.D? At work I do
13. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? extreme worrier
14. Middle name? Elizabeth
15. Name 3 thoughts right now? When's Mike going to get home? I hope my neighbor is okay(he got robbed today), yum leftovers are for dinner
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, water, hot chocolate.
17. The friend you had the longest? Jillea
18. Current dislike right now? Stress
19. Favorite place to be? At home
20. How did you bring in the new year? with Mike
21. Do you like to travel? Yes, but don't get to do it very often anymore
22. Name three people who will complete this? My mom, maybe Alison and Viv
23. Do you own slippers? Yes I have them on now
24. What color shirt are you wearing? White pajama top
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No too slippery
26. Can you whistle? No
27. Favorite color? Pink
28. Would you be a pirate? No, they are too mean
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? None
30. Favorite girls name? Emily and Hannah
31. Favorite boys name? Mike
32. What's in your pocket right now? Nothing
33. What is the last thing that made you laugh? Rhett, my manager at work, was telling me a very funny story about his lasik eye surgery
34. Best bed sheets as a child? Strawberry shortcake
35. Do you love where you live? The neighborhood is good(despite the robbery today) and my house is quaint and cute
36. How many tvs do you have in your house? 3. I know that's pathetic for two people.
37. Who is your loudest friend? Chad by far
38. How many pets do you have? 2
39. What is your favorite book? Little Women. A true classic
40. What is your favorite candy? I've recently discovered Dove milk chocolate
41. Favorite sports team? None, no surprise there
42. What were you doing at 12 a.m. last night? Sleeping quite soundly
43. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? It's cold in here

This is funny!

This is Fred eating out of his food container (excuse the messy floor, I need to clean the area where he eats). On Sunday after we had returned home from having dinner with friends, Mike brought in a new bag of dog food from my car. As he fills the container I go into another room to check our phone messages. After a few minutes I realize I hear chomping coming from the kitchen. I ask Mike if he had fed the dog and he said no so I walk into the kitchen and this is what I see. Mike had inadvertently left the lid off the container and Fred was helping himself to a late night snack. Mike and I broke out into hysterically laughing as we watch Fred eat his food. A few times he would stop eating, look up at us waiting for us to get mad at him and then go back to eating. Instead of getting upset I got my camera and then fed him a little food. I guess he was hungry.

Happy Birthday Steve

On Monday, our friend Steve turned 26 and we had a fun time celebrating his birthday at Rodizio's. We had a great time hanging out with Steve, his mom and some friends. The food was fabulous as always. Of course we all felt like we had to roll out of the restaurant since we ate so much. Here are a couple of pictures from the evening.

Happy Birthday Steve!